St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-11-01
Where She Is Subjected to
Terrible Indignities at the
Hands of Fiends.
Diabolical Men and Aban-
doned Women Join In
Torturing Her.
She Escapes at Night, and FL
nally Manages to Reach
Duluth.
Special to the Globe.


DULUTH, Minn., Oct. 31.-Mary Schur-
man, seventeen years old, arrived from
the east about noon to-day. She tells a
pitiful story of being inveigled into one
of the dancing hells near Hurley, as fol-
lows: Her home is near Streator, ILL.,,
and some time ago she received letter
from former friend advising her to go
to Chicago, where she could OBJ
tain immediate employment. She
arrived there Monday, Oct. "a,
but missed her friend at the
depot. She met a man who said he
knew where her friend was and would
find her. He took the girl to small
hotel, and in the course of the day RET
turned with bogus dispatch, reading:
"Haves gone to Hurley. Follow me.
Good place in restaurant" Miss
Schurman left for Hurley and arrived
there Wednesday about O'Clock in the
evening, and was met at the depot by a
man who said he was
SENT TO MEET HER.
She got into light delivery wagon
and saws she was driven about mile,
crossing small bridge and stopping in
front of a long story and a-half house,
unpainted. Another man held the horse,
and the man who drove her helped her
out and took her into room which was
quite large and uncarpeted. The girl
stood still for moment, when man
without coat ON and in a checked shirt
came up, shook hands, and said:
"Your friend will be here soon.
Come in the sitting-roOm.'' There
were seven young girls in the
fxUn nI6or
latter and one of the former, including
the man with the checked shirt, went
with her through a door in the back
of the room. She was shown into a
small side room when the entire party
fell upon her and stripped her of every
vestige of clothing, including her shoes
and stockings. She begged them to let
her 60, but they laughed at her and led
her, entirely naked, into front room
where there were six Orseven men and
the girls. already spoken of. She
was approached by the men who patted
her with their hands, pinched her and
TOOK OTHER UNDUE LIBERTIES,
and was forced to drinksbeer. After a
few minutes the proprietor, called
Frank" and man not known got into
a seeming quarrel over the girl. The
latter approached her and said, ''Come,
my dear; I'll get your Clothes" and
took a coat and threw it over her
shoulders. He led her from the room
into the same room where her clothes
had been taken away. He took off the
coat, threw the girl on lounge and
forcibly outraged her, and was followed
men, names unknown. One had large
scar running down the side of his
face under the neck. When the men
left her, several girls came in and told
her she had been ''initiated" and must
set up the drinks. The oldest woman in
the house gave her her shoes and stock
ings back, together with short dress
and skirt. Miss Schurman feigned to be
pleased with the surroundings, and told
the girls that as soon as she got rested
from her journey she would be as lively
as any of them, and she was allowed to
sleep unmoleSted for the whole of
Wednesday night, after being SUBJ
jected to
SEVERAL INDIGNITIES
worse than any yet described. The pro-
prietOr turned her and all the other girls
out of bed at II o'clock the next morn
ing. During the afternoon, in passing
through hallway at the rear of the
house, Mary, saw several articles Of
clothing mot hers, which she hid near
an euthouse. On Thursday morning she
was outraged by Cnfee men, one OF
which was the man with the scar on his
face. She was obliged to lie in bed with
two drunken men all night. Friday
she got some more clothes and dress,
in the pocket of which was 80 cents, and
about o'clock in the evening made her
escape. She knew nothing of the coun-
try, but wandered from the town,
another little bridge, and,
finding small hut near the
road, crawled into it and slept
for a short time. She reached station
this side of Hurley and rode on freight
train to Ashland. A Chicago travelling
man saw her and surmising her trouble
got her to relate part of her story. He
gave her a ticket from Duluth to Chi
cago, S. in money and bought ticket
for her from Ashland to Duluth. The
girl left here this afternoon for her home
in Illinois. She cried great deal in re-
lating her story to the reporter. She is
an attractive, well spoken girl. Her
father and mother died ON the same day
about year ago. She says the girls
were threatened with severe punishment
if they left the dance house without per-
mission. She knew very little about
places or distances, but her only anxiety
seemed to be to get home.